


Metamours

by TheseusInTheMaze



Series: Metamours [1]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Confession, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Panic Attack, Polyamorous relationship, Sickfic, Slow Burn, drug mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 08:05:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10917726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheseusInTheMaze/pseuds/TheseusInTheMaze
Summary: New relationships bring on new titles.Dan considers one of his.





	Metamours

**Author's Note:**

> Edited by the ever lovely Angel! Love you, babes!
> 
> Written for Rem, who is an absolute darling & who I love very much!

Arin was asleep on the Grump couch.

That wasn't unusual, in and of itself, except for the fact that it was about three in the afternoon, and usually, at this point of the day, Arin was metaphorically bouncing off of the walls and getting shit done. 

But he'd been almost falling asleep all day, to the point that Dan had done most of the actual playing, and when Dan had come back from getting a snack, he found Arin just conked the fuck out.

... huh.

Suzy had mentioned that Arin hadn't been sleeping really well - something about him having trouble breathing, or something of that nature.

Poor guy.

But now he was snoring away on the couch, and even though they were kind of behind, Dan couldn't find it in him to shake Arin awake.

He looked... sweet when he was sleeping, his brow still slightly furrowed, his eyes moving under their lids.

He must have been dreaming something.

Dan fought back the absurd urge to kiss the top of Arin's head, and he slipped back out.

He'd come back in, like, an hour. 

* * * 

Suzy was at her desk, tapping away at something or other.

She smiled at him, that special smile of hers that lit her whole face up, and Dan smiled back in spite of himself, something in his chest going bright and hot for a moment.

He still couldn't believe that he was... that he was _allowed_ to like her, that her equally wonderful husband was not just okay with them messing around, but actively encouraging it.

How did he get to be so lucky?

She took her headphones off, and raised an eyebrow as he sauntered over, leaning against the lip of her desk.

"Where's Arin?" 

"He kinda fell asleep," said Dan, indicating the Grump room over his shoulder with one large thumb. "I figured maybe he needed a chance to nap. I'll go wake him in a bit."

Suzy sighed.

"He's overworking himself," she told Dan, reaching out with one small hand to squeeze his fingers. "Although what else is new?"

Dan laughed, and squeezed her hand back.

"I think he's getting sick," Dan told her, and he felt a bit like he was talking about someone's child, or a beloved pet. "He's really snuffly."

Was there any other cultural context where two adults talked about someone else with this much affectionate concern in their voices?

"Poor baby," Suzy said, her tone sympathetic. 

"I'll make him some tea," said Dan. "When he wakes up, I mean."

"You're an excellent metamour," Suzy told Dan, and she turned her face up for a kiss.

Dan bent down, kissing her, his long hair brushing the sides of her face. 

"A what?"

"A metamour. A partner's partner." 

Dan shrugged.

"He's my best friend," he pointed out. "I'm not just gonna leave him to suffer - that'd be pretty dickish."

"I dunno," said Suzy, leaning back in her seat, still holding his hand, almost absently rubbing her thumb along the back of his hand. "I've heard some horror stories, about people's partners not getting on with each other, like, at all."

"Well, yeah, but none of them were about me and Arin specifically," Dan pointed out, and he brought Suzy's hand up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles theatrically, just to make her laugh. 

"Of course," Suzy said, borderline deadpan. "I forgot the epic bromance that the two of you have."

"Never forget the bromance," Dan intoned, as if he were speaking from on high.

Suzy burst out laughing, her eyes crinkling up at the sides, her nose wrinkling, and she was so cute that it hurt a little bit. 

Dan smiled at her, aware he looked like an utter goof, not entirely caring.

"What's going on?"

Arin shuffled out of the recording room, and Dan resisted the urge to yank his hand out of Suzy's. 

He knew that Arin was okay with all of this shit.

Hell, Arin had explicitly _said_ he was okay with all of this shit.

But some guilty part of Dan's mind still thought that he was doing something... well, wrong.

"Dan is seducing me to a life of the rock star groupie," said Suzy, her tone as chill as ever.

"What?! No, I -" 

"Do Ninja Sex Party groupies get to wear spandex too?" Arin leaned against the desk next to Dan, hip to hip, so utterly comfortable in his own bones that Dan's own shoulders untensed just looked at him.

"I... don't know," said Dan. "I don't think we've got any groupies yet."

"You should get on that," said Arin. "I'll be a groupie. I'd rock the spandex look." He flexed, then took Suzy's other hand, kissing it.

"You are disgustingly cute when you wake up," Suzy told Arin.

"Why am I waking up now, and not when I fell asleep and we were supposed to start the episode?" Arin gave Dan a Look, but Dan rolled his eyes.

"You've been shuffling around like a zombie since you came in this morning," Dan told Arin.

He realized, with a start, that he was... well, caged in, between the two of them. 

And he wasn't panicking.

How about that?

"How would a fifteen minute nap make me any less of a zombie?"

"That was supposed to be an hour long nap," Dan pointed out.

"A thousand pardons," Arin said, and he yawned.

His breath smelled horrible, like salt and something cold.

"How about I make you some tea?" Dan slipped out from between the two of them, making his way towards the kettle.

"You know," Arin said, stretching, "you don't have to butter me up just because you're dating Suzy."

"Huh?"

"Remember, you were all "thank you for letting me date your wife" and then I said I wasn't letting you do anything, since Suzy's business is her business, and then you started -"

"I remember," Dan said, as he filled the kettle. "This has nothing to do with any of that."

"You do know Dan likes you, right Arin?" Suzy was giving Arin a look, and Dan grinned - he didn't even have to see the two of them to know what kind of look it was. 

"I'm a dumbass," Arin said flatly.

"Yeah," said Suzy, and when Dan turned around, he saw that the two of them were kissing, a chaste, quick, lips on lips. 

He didn't feel his usual... anxiety, seeing that.

Huh. 

The kettle boiled, and Dan made tea, adding honey and lemon juice.

He handed the mug to Arin, and Arin stared down at it blearily, then took a slug of it.

Then he coughed.

"Is there any tea in here at all?!" He indicated the mug, looking slightly affronted, and very surprised. 

"Of course there is," Dan said, offended.

"You've never had Dan's tea before," Suzy said, and she laughed. "That's how he always makes it, babe."

"Does he make you tea a lot?"

Suzy blushed, looking down, and Arin's expression turned stricken, as Dan's stomach did a weird little flip-flop.

"Oh, no, I'm not, like, mad at you or asking after your relationship or anything," Arin said quickly, and he was blushing. "I just, uh, I know that Suzy likes her tea a certain way, and I was curious, if, uh, if she likes it a-"

"Suzy told me how to make her tea," Dan told Arin, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Okay. Good." 

Arin took a glug of tea, probably to save some face. 

Suzy stood up, stretching, arching her back. She kissed Arin on the cheek, then pecked Dan on the mouth, before heading towards the bathroom.

Dan realized with a start that they were both grinning after her.

"You wanna go finish the session?" 

Arin's voice was sounding a lot better - Dan hadn't even noticed the fact that it was starting to growl, but now that it was smoother, he winced, retroactively. 

Poor Arin really was coming down with something.

"Yeah, sounds good," said Arin. He cleared his throat, made a face, and slugged back the rest of the tea.

Dan winced - that could _not_ have felt nice.

Arin had a stronger mouth than he let on, it seemed.

* * *

"So then, I tell Suzy, 'yeah, sure, just remember that not all of us actually like the smell of formaldehyde, and' - holy shit, okay, for those of you at home, Dan is starting to turn green."

"You were just talkin' about fucking... intestines," Dan said, slumping back into the couch, covering his eyes with one hand, chuckling in spite of himself.

"Well, yeah," said Arin. "You spend a lot of time around Suzy. You know what she's like when she's got a new project."

Dan shot Arin a warning look - it wasn't like they were exactly... out about the whole poly thing, and their fans had... vivid imaginations. 

"Dan's been eating at our place a ton," Arin supplied quickly.

"Yeah," said Dan. "My fridge broke, and a man can only eat out so many times before his wallet starts to complain."

"Forget about your wallet, man," said Arin, getting into the swing of things, "your _stomach_ is starting to complain.

"How can you even tell?" Dan was beginning to chuckle. 

"Your stomach makes a lot of noise," Arin said, with some authority. "To say nothing of... other parts of you."

"I'm sorry," Dan said, looking at Arin out of the corner of his eye, "is Arin ‘I have literally farted so hard I shit my pants on camera’ Hanson actually complaining about me farting?"

"It could be argued that I'm the perfect person to complain about your farting," said Arin. "Since I've got so much experience with farting."

"You've got experience with your own farts," Dan told Arin. "It's like... I read in this book once, how wolves can't really smell themselves, because when they're learning how to hunt or whatever, they have to discount their own scent."

"... how would that even work," said Arin. "Like, how do you sense when an animal can smell itself, versus when it can't?"

"I dunno, they use, like, electrolytes or something?"

"Yeah," Arin said, his voice completely flat, "they use the shit in fucking... Gatorade, in order to see into an animal's nose."

"It'd be hooked into their brain," said Dan. "You know, like, when they check if people are psychic or whatever?"

"The word you're looking for is _electrodes_ ," said Arin. "They'd have to shave the wolf, hook it up."

"Maybe they could do it with dogs," said Dan. "Since I think it'd be easier to shave a dog than to shave a wolf."

"Dogs are just like... wolves 2.0 anyway," said Arin, with some confidence.

"I dunno about that," said Dan. "If it came down to a fight between a wolf and Princess Tinkles, I'm pretty sure I know who'd win."

"Well, yeah, but can a wolf sit in your lap?"

"Since when is lap sitting an evolutionary trait that you want?"

"Evidently someone thought it was, since she's lap sized."

"I feel like there's a difference between, like, breeding dogs to be lap sized, versus dogs choosing to breed themselves to be lap size, but I can't actually think of a way to phrase it without talking about, like, crocoducks."

Arin burst out laughing, loud, honking laughter, which turned into coughing, the kind of hacking coughing that always raises the hackles.

"Next time on Game Grumps," Dan said quickly, "Arin is _not_ gonna cough up a lung." He leaned over, turning off the sound capture, and then he shoved his own tea at Arin.

Arin drank it down, giving a choked off thanks, and then he made a face.

"I don't like green tea," he told Dan.

"I know," said Dan, "but I figured it'd do you better to drink something gross than to, you know, cough your lungs straight out of your chest."

"... well, okay, but only just," said Arin, grinning.

God, Arin was so cute.

... Dan was spending too much time around Suzy. She always loved to point out when Arin was being cute, and now he was noticing it himself, to tell her.

How did he get so damn _lucky_?

"I'm gonna make you some more tea," he told Arin.

Arin nodded, taking a slug out of his water bottle. 

* * * 

Suzy was napping on the bean bag chair. 

Full on napping, curled on her side, snoring quietly. 

She snored differently from anyone Dan knew - it sounded more like she was... buzzing, and it was one of his favorite sounds to listen to, as he was falling asleep.

She was clutching Arin's sweater to her chest, her head cushioned on Dan's leather jacket, and she looked so cute that Dan had to stop and just... look at her for a minute, because... wow.

It was late - he and Arin had gone at least another three hours, and apparently Suzy was waiting up for them.

Theoretically, she and Dan were gonna go to dinner after all of this, but Dan was beginning to doubt that dinner was going to be a thing.

He was dozy, a headache beginning in his temples from the lack of sleep, and Arin was clearly exhausted and on his way to sick.

Dan would be a little sad to leave them to it, but well... he was Suzy's boyfriend. Arin was Suzy's husband.

They needed each other, when they were worn out, and he'd be okay on his own. 

"Isn't she adorable?"

Dan looked over his shoulder, to see Arin, sleepy eyed and smiling so widely his face could have been split in two.

"Yeah," said Dan softly.

"You know," Arin said, coming to stand next to him, "I'm glad that there's two of us now."

"Yeah?" 

Why was Dan's heart beating faster? What was he expecting to hear, exactly?

"Because, like, now I can... I can stand here and look at her sleep and I can share it with someone, and I know it's someone she wants to share it with, right?" Arin was wrapping an arm around Dan's waist, and that should have been weird, but... it wasn't.

It was comfortable - it was as comfortable as falling against Arin when he was laughing too hard, or when Arin prodded him in the side for making a bad joke.

Dan's heart was beating very fast.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. She'd get... like, super uncomfortable, if I just showed a picture of her sleeping to someone and said 'Isn't my wife the cutest thing ever?', but since you've slept next to her, and she's slept next to you, I can just, like, get excited about it without feeling like a dork."

"She's... amazing," Dan said, and he meant every word of it.

"Well, so are you," said Arin, and there was some kind of feeling in his voice, enough feeling that Dan's heart did some kind of weird little jump, and the spot where Arin's hand was touching him was starting to tingle, and Dan didn't entirely know what he wanted right now, other than for this moment in time to freeze so he could analyze it, and then press it like a flower and carry it with him everywhere.

"Hmm?" Suzy made a sleepy noise, and then she was opening her eyes.

Arin let go of Dan, and Dan missed the contact, not entirely sure how he felt about that, but Suzy was smiling at him, the crease from his jacket red across her face.

Arin flopped onto the giant bean bag chair next to her, and she cuddled up to him.

Then she held her arms open for Dan. 

"My side's cold," she said. 

"Is it gonna be weird?" Dan cleared his throat. "I don't want to, like, intrude on your special marital bliss or whatever."

Arin rolled his eyes, snickering. 

"Get on the fucking beanbag, dude," he told Dan. 

Dan got on the fucking beanbag, and he snuggled up to Suzy, one hand on her hip, the other wrapped around her back.

The back of his hand was pressed against Arin's chest, and that was... that should have been uncomfortable, but _none_ of this was uncomfortable, and if he wasn't so content, that would have bothered him. 

But... it really didn't.

* * *

Dan's arm fell asleep, and he was starting to cramp up.

"Hey, Scuze?"

"Mmm?" Her head was nestled into Arin's chest, and she was holding on to Dan's hand, pulling him closer, until he was basically pasted to her back. 

This would be the absolute _worst_ time to get a boner. 

"I know we were gonna get dinner tonight, but Arin isn't feeling so good -"

"I'm feeling fine," Arin said defensively. "I'm just stuffy. I'll take some, like, decongestants or something, I'll sleep like a baby tonight."

"You're already sleeping like a baby," Suzy said. "You wake up to pee every other hour, and you've been groaning and gasping awake on the hours you're not getting up to pee."

Arin groaned like he was in pain.

"I'm trying to encourage you to go on a date with your totally hot boyfriend," Arin said. "Stop arguing."

"You think I'm hot?" 

Why was Dan blushing so hard.

Holy shit, that was... holy shit, Arin thought he was hot, and he was a grown ass adult, why was this making him blush so hard?

"I'm quoting Suzy," Arin said, and Dan's stomach clenched uncomfortably. "Plus, you know, I've got eyes."

"Oh geez," Dan mumbled, and he was chuckling into Suzy's back.

"We could compromise," Suzy said, "and Dan could come over for dinner?"

"Yeah," said Dan. "I like that idea."

"You sure?" Arin sat up, giving Dan his best serious face. "I don't want you to feel like you have to put your date night on hold just because I'm getting a cold or whatever."

"Nah," said Dan. "I like spending time with you guys."

"Well, yeah, I know that," Arin said, "but, like, I know you're dating, and I know that it'd be kinda hard for you to do, like, date stuff, if I'm sniffling in the corner." 

"What do you think we _do_ on our dates?" Suzy sounded genuinely intrigued.

"I mean," Arin said, and he wriggled his eyebrows. "I've seen some of the hickeys...."

Dan blushed harder, and Suzy giggled. 

"I'm too tired for, like, intense sexy make outs," Dan said. "Unless Suzy really wanted them."

"You'd surpass your exhaustion to make out with my wife?" Arin's voice was deadpan, teasing.

"I'd belly crawl over broken glass to make out with your wife," Dan said, equally deadpan, but less teasing. 

"Maybe you guys could stop talking about me like I'm not right here," Suzy said from between them.

"Sorry, babe," said Arin, and he kissed her forehead.

"Sorry, Scuze," said Dan, and he kissed the back of her head.

"So," said Suzy, all business, "you wanna come for dinner? We can eat leftovers and watch a movie."

"I like this plan," said Dan.

"So do I," said Arin, and he yawned widely. "I mean, even if you guys wanna do nasty sex shit, I'm tired enough I'll probably just pass the fuck out once I've eaten something."

Dan snorted. 

"We've got to do one more episode," he told Suzy, "then we're all yours."

"Just the way I like it," Suzy said, and she patted each of them on the hip. "C'mon. Get up, so I can start shutting everything down and getting ready to go."

"Yes, boss," said Arin, standing up and stretching.

His shirt rose up, and his belly was pale and soft. 

Dan wanted to kiss it.

... the fuck?

He really was tired, if he was getting his feelings for Suzy tangled up with his feelings for Arin. 

He yawned, standing up himself, and shuffled back towards the kitchen area - he still owed Arin some tea. 

The other man's voice was beginning to croak again. 

And then, there would be movies and food. 

Good way to spend an evening - practically the way he had planned it to go, truth be told. His and Suzy's dates weren't usually fancy affairs.

At least, their regular weekday dates. 

Once and awhile, they sprung for something fancy.

He stared at the kettle, listening to the sounds of his girlfriend and his best friend shuffling around the space, tidying up. 

* * *

Arin was punchier than usual as they finished the episode, and he was laughing so hard at one of his own jokes that he managed to give himself the hiccups, which got Dan laughing, and they ended up going almost twenty minutes over, just to get the footage.

By the time they had finished the recording, then turning everything off and shelving it again, Suzy was sitting on the couch, wearing Dan’s leather jacket.

“Sorry about that, Scuze,” said Dan, aware that he was extruding sheepishness.

“It’s okay,” said Suzy, and she pulled the jacket closer around herself. “You’ll just have to pay the jacket tax.”

“Jacket tax,” Dan said, deadpan. 

“Yep,” said Suzy, leaning into the kiss that Arin was pressing to her temple. 

“I’m gonna freeze,” Dan said. “It’s cold out there!”

“Wear my sweater,” said Arin.

“You sure? I don’t want you to get too cold.”

“Nah,” said Arin. “I burn hot.” He was sweating, even in the cooler air of the office, and that was a bit worrying, but Dan wasn’t going to fuss over him too much. He knew how annoying that could get. 

“You’re super hot, baby,” Suzy said through her giggles.

Arin blushed, and that was, quite possibly, one of the most endearing things that Dan had ever seen.

He was saved from having to think about that too hard by Arin’s sweater hitting him in the face.

“So, uh, you wanna follow us in the car back to our place?” Arin cleared his throat, then cleared it again, making a face. “Urgh. Actually, would you mind if I stopped at the pharmacy first? I need to get something for this cold.”

“How about you ride along with me,” Dan suggested. “I need to get some stuff from the pharmacy anyway.”

Which was a blatant lie. 

“You sure?” 

“Yeah - anyway, if I got to your place first, I’d just have to mooch around waiting anyway.”

“That’s true,” said Suzy. “And I can get dinner started.”

“You sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have to cook for us,” said Arin.

“Nah,” said Suzy. “I like cooking for you.” 

She stood on tiptoe, kissing each of them on the mouth in turn, and then she walked out. “Just don’t be too late,” she called over her shoulder.

“We’ll only stop for one blowie,” Arin called back, and raising his voice like that must have been a mistake, because he started to cough. 

Dan gave him a sympathetic slap on the back, and Arin made an especially disgusting noise, then went to the sink, spat something into it, and ran the water.

“I hate being sick,” he told Dan, morose.

“I don’t think there’s anyone out there who actually _likes_ being sick,” Dan said, trying not to think about the whole “blowies” comment, because… well, there’s some shit you don’t want to contemplate when you’re gonna be alone in a car with a guy.

Especially when that guy was his best friend, and his girlfriend’s husband. 

“So you wanna head to the pharmacy? We can get you some of that special cold tea.”

“They make special tea for colds?” 

“Totally,” said Dan. “It’s like, medicinal or something.”

“I guess it would make sense that they sell it at the pharmacy,” Arin said, as he closed the door and locked it behind him. “Thank you,” he added as an afterthought, and there was so much genuine emotion in his voice that Dan was nonplussed for a moment.

“For what?”

“Well, I mean, you’re being so nice to me while I’m sick, and I super appreciate that,” said Arin, as they made their way to the elevator, pressing the button. “But, like, also… thanks for being so nice about the Suzy thing.”

“... what?” Dan shot him a puzzled look, as the elevator dinged and they got on it. “I mean, she’s your _wife_. I knew that from the get go. It’s not like I’m gonna sweep her up in my strong, manly arms and drag her off to Las Vegas for a shotgun wedding or some shit like that.”

“Well, okay, yeah, I know that, but I’ve heard, like, all these horror stories about guys whose metamours got pissy about ever seeing them be affectionate together, or guys who stopped being friends when they did the poly thing with their partners.”

“You’re my best friend,” Dan said, genuinely touched. 

“And you're mine,” said Arin. “But, like, I can also tell how much you like Suzy, and i don't wanna make you feel like you've got to suppress one set of feelings for another or something.”

“You've never made me feel like that,” Dan reassured Arin, as they made their way towards Dan's car. 

“Okay,” said Arin. “But you'll keep me updated?”

“So updated you won't know what to do with yourself,” Dan said, unlocking the car. 

Arin smiled at him, and even in the dim evening, Dan could see the flash of Arin’s white teeth. 

* * *

The CVS was huge and empty, a liminal space. 

“I feel like if we looked out a window, we’d be on the moon, or the bottom of the ocean or something,” Arin said quietly, as they made their way down the aisles, towards the tea section. 

“It's because there aren't any windows,” Dan said, his hands in his pockets. “We could be at the bottom of the ocean.”

Arin started to laugh, and then he started to cough - Dan patted him on the back, a bit nervous, and Arin gave him a grateful look.

“I do _not_ have time to get sick right now,” Arin grumbled, as he stared at the neat little cardboard boxes. 

“Do you ever have time to get sick?” Dan's tone was one of polite inquiry, as he looked as well. “Shit. They're out of the one that I use.”

“Which one is that?” Under the fluorescent lights, Arin didn't look so good. He had circles under his eyes, and he was clearly clammy. 

“It clears out your sinuses and.. what do you call them. The bronchial tubes.” 

“You think I should get anything else?” Arin grabbed a box of tea that professed to soothe sore throats, stating down at it with a slightly dazed expression. 

“Well, yeah,” said Dan. “Medicinal teas are great for, like, headaches or sore throats, but you should take some actual cough medicine as well.”

“I'll buy some overnight stuff,” said Arin. “I can take it after dinner, just knock the fuck out and sleep this off.”

“You sure you don't wanna get something for the office?”

“Nah,” said Arin. “It'll blow over, and worst case scenario I'll drink a ton of tea.”

“If you say so…,” Dan said, although he was still doubtful. 

“What was it that you needed?” Arin looked at Dan expectantly.

“Needed? Oh! Needed!” Dan swallowed. “Toothpaste. I need toothpaste.”

“You wanna get it while I pay for this shit?” Arin held out his bottle of cough syrup and the box of tea. 

“Yeah, sure,” said Dan. “I'll be right there.”

* * *

Dan bought his toothpaste. 

They drove back to Arin's place, to find Suzy fiddling around with something in a big pot. 

“I'm making soup,” she told Arin.

“I thought we were having leftovers,” said Arin, walking over to kiss her, dropping the plastic bag from the pharmacy onto the table. 

“We are,” Suzy said. “I'm putting the leftover chicken in the soup.”

“Chicken soup,” Dan said. “Can't get a much better remedy for being sick than that!”

“You need help?” Arin sat down heavily at the table, closing his eyes. 

He looked horrible. 

“I'll do it,” Dan said quickly. “The help, I mean.”

“You're the guest,” Arin protested weakly. 

“Barely,” said Dan. “I'm here often enough to know where all of the shit is.”

“He's got a good point,” Suzy said. 

“What, knowing the layout of the kitchen is proof of… non guest… ness?” Arin groaned, and Dan made a sympathetic noise. 

“I'll make you some tea,” he told Arin. 

“Thanks,” said Arin, and he gave Dan another one of those huge smiles that did something to Dan's stomach. 

Dan smiled back - how could he not? - and put the kettle on. 

“Can you set the table, Dan?” Suzy looked up from where she had been stirring whatever was in the big pot. 

It smelled chicken-y. 

* * *

Dinner was… pleasant.

Suzy sat between the two men, and Arin was so sprawled out that one of his feet was just pressed against Dan’s, Suzy's thigh pressed against Dan's. 

It was all so nice. 

It was a bit like coming home - actually coming home, not just the place that he lived, but a place where he was wanted. 

He didn't know how to feel about that, and it was honestly kind of terrifying if he looked too closely at it. 

But right now, he was sitting at a kitchen table with two people who cared about him, and that is something that was important, all the way down in his bones. 

So he made jokes, and he ate his soup, aware, in a distant sort if way, that this was an island of light amongst the darkness of the world.

* * *

“That is fucking disgusting,” Arin said, making a face as he opened the bottle of cough syrup. 

“Well, duh,” said Dan, as he loaded the dishwasher. “It’s to keep kids from just drinking it like juice.”

“Why would anyone want to drink cough syrup?” Arin dug a spoon out of the drawer and poured himself the cough syrup. 

He made a face. 

“I dunno,” said Suzy, who was in the process of feeding the cats. “Maybe if it didn't taste like ass more people would drink it for fun.”

“People drink it for fun anyway,” Dan said, rolling the sleeves of Arin’s sweater further up his arms.

He would have to remember to give it back to Arin before he left for the night, and possibly retrieve his leather jacket. 

Suzy had taken it off at some point, but Dan didn't know where it was. 

“Well, yeah, but that's adults,” said Suzy. 

From the sink, Arin made a truly disgusting noise, comprised mainly of consonants, with a few gargled vowels thrown in for good measure. 

“Anyone who tries to get high off of that shit _deserves_ whatever happens to them,” Arin said, making a face. 

Dan snorted. 

“I've heard of people getting high off of worse,” said Dan, closing the dishwasher. 

“Like what?” Arin was still making faces as he rinsed off his spoon.

“Well,” said Dan, “You know, like, magic mushrooms?”

“Yeah?”

“They only grow from shit.”

“Don't all mushrooms grow from shit?”

“They're usually fertilized with shit,” Suzy interjected, as she stroked Mimi’s back. 

“Well, these mushrooms need to basically grow in shit,” said Dan. “And they taste like shit.”

“Well, I mean, I figure they'd taste bad,” said Arin. He was leaning against the sink. 

“No, like… they taste like actual shit.” Dan made a face. It wasn't his fondest memory. 

“How would you know they taste like actual shit? Have you tasted actual shit?”

“Well, okay, no, I've never tasted actual shit, but I can… guess.”

“So I should cross magic mushrooms off of my list of possible drugs to try, the day I finally decide to metaphorically break the bonds of sobriety?”

Dan shot Arin a slightly concerned look. 

He didn't usually get this… verbose. 

Suzy laughed. 

“You gonna go to bed, sweetie?” She walked over to Arin, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head under his chin. 

Dan had the absurd urge to do the same, to hold Arin against him like the world's sweatiest teddy bear. 

He crossed his arms across his chest, squeezing himself in some form of comfort. 

He would give Suzy a proper cuddle, when they were on the couch. 

“Nah,” said Arin. “I'll stay up a little bit. Unless you want some… you know, privacy.” He waggled his eyebrows like Groucho Marx. 

Dan paused, taking stock of himself. 

He was too tired to fuck - the back of his throat was beginning to develop the slightest tickle, which was never a good sign. 

He wanted nothing more than to sit (or lie) on something comfortable, with Suzy cuddled up to him.

Maybe Suzy and Arin cuddled up to him. 

… that went down an unexpected road, but fuck it, platonic bro cuddles were totally a thing, right?

“I'm good either way,” Suzy said. “Dan? It's up to you.”

“... Wanna watch Deadpool on the couch?” Dan smiled at Arin, nervous and not entirely sure why he was nervous. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Arin said, kissing the top of Suzy's head, then gently shoving her towards Dan. “You've been fussing over me all evening. Go give Dan some affection before he starts to feel left out.”

“I don't wanna spread your germs around,” Suzy said, but she let go of Arin to wrap her arms around Dan's middle. 

Dan rested his chin on top of her head, his long arms wrapping around her.

She was warm, and she smelled nice. 

Arin was looking at them with a wistful expression, and then he turned around and went into the living room. 

“I'll get the movie started up,” he called over his shoulder. 

“Does it still bother him, when we’re, like, affectionate in front of him?” Dan spoke into the top of Suzy's head - he could smell her shampoo, and her sweat. 

“No,” said Suzy. “No, he likes seeing us together. We're two of his favorite people.”

There was something thoughtful about her tone, something Dan couldn't put his finger on.

Dan's heart lit up at that, and he blushed dark red. 

He leaned down and kissed her, pressing his hot face against her cooler cheeks. 

* * *

Arin was sitting curled up against one of the arms of the couch, clearly halfway to a doze. 

Suzy sat by the other arm, which left Dan in the middle. 

That was a bit unusual - it wasn't the first time that the three of them had hung out, but usually Suzy sat in the middle, to be cuddled by her two boys. 

Huh. 

Dan gave a mental shrug and sat down in the middle, stretching his arms out along the back of the couch, his legs out in front of him. 

Arin looked over at him and smiled. 

“Ready to start?”

Dan nodded, yawning himself.

It wasn't even, like, super late. 

Everything just felt slightly otherworldly. 

Suzy snuggled up to Dan, one hand across his chest, and Arin adjusted his position, so that he and Dan were hip to hip. 

Arin pressed play. 

* * *

Not even ten minutes in, Arin was fast asleep on Dan's shoulder. 

His hair was soft against Dan's cheek, and his mustache was almost ticklish against Dan's neck. 

“Do you want me to move him?” Suzy was clearly trying not to start giggling. 

“Nah,” said Dan, quietly. “Let him sleep.” 

Suzy nodded, her eyes half shut, clearly hypnotized by whatever was happening on screen. 

* * *

Dan jolted awake, the menu at the start of the movie blinking back at him. 

Suzy and Arin also both jolted, Arin ending up with a face full of Dan's hair, Suzy nearly head butting Dan in the chin. 

“Shit,” Arin said, glancing at his watch. “It’s almost two. I'm so sorry, man.”

His voice was rough, with sleep and with whatever sickness he was fighting off.

“It's okay,” Dan said, rubbing his eyes. 

Suzy made a protesting noise, stretching like a cat, then relaxing back into the couch. 

“I need to get home,” Dan said. 

“Night,” Suzy mumbled, snuggling into the couch.

Dan grinned, leaning down and kissing her on the mouth.

She kissed him back, sleepily, then her eyelids went down, and she was snoring quietly. 

Arin walked Dan to the door, sleepy eyed and sheepish. 

“I'm sorry,” Arin said. “I feel like I kinda ruined your date.”

“Not at all,” Dan said. “I had an awesome evening.”

“We literally just passed out in front of the television,” Arin said, and he was laughing as Dan patted himself down, making sure he still had his keys. 

“It was great,” Dan said. 

Impulsively, he hugged Arin. 

… shit. 

He was going to draw back, but then Arin was holding onto him, squeezing him, then kissing him on the temple. 

“... thanks,” Arin said, and he was blushing. 

“See you tomorrow?” 

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

Dan made his way out of Arin's house, back to his car. 

It wasn't until he was halfway back to his own house that he realized that he had never given Arin his sweater back. 

* * * 

Dan woke up to a voice message, the next day. 

“Hey man, it’s me. I mean, it’s Arin. You probably can’t, uh, can’t tell who it is, but, uh, I won’t be able to come in today. I’m still kinda sick. Suzy is staying in as well, says she wants to look after me.” There was a noise that might have been a laugh and might have been a cough. “Can you call her when you get this and see if you can talk her out of that? Maybe she’ll listen to you, as her boyfriend or something.”

Dan called Suzy, sitting there in his bath robe, a cup of coffee in front of him. 

* * * 

“Hey Scuze,” said Dan. 

“Hey, sweetie,” said Suzy. 

“Arin called me to tell you that he should come into work,” said Dan, taking a sip of his coffee. 

“Do you think he should come into work?”

“God no,” said Dan. “His voice sounds like ten miles of bad road.” 

Suzy laughed, and it sounded horrible down the phone line.

It was, quite possibly, the most wonderful sound that Dan had ever heard. 

“I’m gonna stay with him,” said Suzy. “He’s coughing really bad, and he’s got a fever.”

“Poor guy.”

“Yeah… Arin always gets knocked on his ass when he’s sick.” 

“Do you need me to bring you guys anything?”

“Nah - your pharmacy run the other night was really handy. That tea is really helping.” 

“I’m glad.” Dan switched ears, and took another sip of his tea. He could hear Arin coughing in the background, and it sounded like the kind of hard coughing that makes the ears ring and the chest get tight.

“I’ll text you later, okay sweetie?” 

“Don’t worry about it, babe. Give Arin….” _My love? A kiss for me?_ “Give Arin my best.” 

“I will!” 

Dan hung up, and he stared at his phone. 

Then he texted Ross - Steam Train wasn’t around anymore, true, but who wouldn’t want a collab from the two old buddies, right?

Ross was up for it.

So the day was sorted.

More or less.

Arin’s sweater was still draped across the back of Dan’s kitchen chair. 

Dan would have to wash it, before he gave it back. 

* * * 

Dan went to the Grump office.

He Grumped with Ross, playing a particularly weird little adventure game. 

He flirted with Suzy via text, in his free moments. 

He texted Arin a few weird memes, a picture of a cat.

He was… something was missing, and it wasn’t until the third time that he turned to tell Arin something funny that he realized that it was less a some _thing_ , more a some _one_. 

… oh god. 

He was too damn old too, too damn tired, too damn busy, to develop a crush.

Let alone develop a crush on Arin.

And this wasn’t the goddamn time to be pondering about that, when Ross was doing his creepy baby voice.

Dan forced himself down a different train of thought, because this wasn’t the time for it, and he put a metaphorical pin in it. 

He’d just have to get the guts to actually return to it.

* * * 

Dan ignored the niggling thoughts in the back of his head for the rest of the day, until he was in his car by himself. 

Then he groaned, pressing his forehead into the top of the steering wheel of the car.

He wasn’t even bothered by the fact that he had a crush on a dude.

Arin wasn’t just some dude.

He was… Arin. 

He was smart, he was funny, he was _kind_ , he made Dan happy in about a million different ways that Dan didn’t even know how to describe.

And that was the problem, wasn’t it?

He was… he was kind of in love with Suzy.

He could tell, from a distance, although he wasn’t going to get too close to the big “L” word just yet, because… that shit was scary, and that shit was serious, and that shit had bitten him in the ass before.

But also liking Arin? 

Would that be too weird?

Arin was his coworker, much more so than Suzy was, and Arin was his best friend, his band mate. 

What was he going to do, if things went wrong? 

What if things went _right_? 

What did things going right even mean, in this context?

Dan groaned again, louder, more heartfelt, and he turned his car on.

At the very least, he could ponder on this bullshit while he was in his own house, instead of sitting by himself in his car. 

* * * 

Arin’s sweater was still on the back of the chair when Dan got home, and Dan sighed, and he picked it up, pressing it against his face before he had time to think.

It mainly smelled like himself, but there was a little bit of Arin buried in the threads of it, something deep, that Dan smelled more from the very back of his throat.

He sighed, holding the soft pink fabric against his chest, shifting from foot to foot, almost rocking himself in an attempt to get some comfort.

When did shit have to get so complicated.

He’d have to talk to Arin about it, the next time they were alone together. 

* * * 

Arin came in to work the next day.

He still looked like hell, but he was sitting on the couch, fiddling with menus and their recording equipment. 

There was a steaming mug of tea on the table next to him, and it smelled… medicinal. 

“Hi,” croaked Arin. 

“Jesus christ, Arin, what the fuck are you doing here?” 

Nice.

“I didn’t want to miss another day,” Arin said, and he coughed, long and hard. “Suzy… Suzy wasn’t gonna leave me alone, and she has to do a couple of games today, she had them set up with Holly.”

“So you’re just gonna come to work sounding horrible?”

“I’ll sound better when I drink the tea,” Arin insisted. “And you can do most of the talking.”

“If you’re sure,” Dan said, glancing sidelong at Arin. “That can’t be good for your throat.”

“C’mon, man. It’s Thursday. That’s practically Friday. And I can sleep and not talk on the weekend.”

 

Dan raised an eyebrow. 

Arin shot him puppy dog eyes, taking his steaming tea and slugging it back with relish. 

… christ, the man must have had a mouth like cast iron. 

Dan sighed. 

“If Suzy yells at me, I’m pointing her in your direction,” he told Arin.

“Totally ready for that,” Arin said.

And he sounded a lot more like a human being. 

Still raspy, still rough, but much better.

“This tea you got me,” Arin said, “it works fucking miracles, man.”

“Evidently!” Dan grinned, and he sat on the couch next to Arin.

He couldn’t help the smiling. 

Seeing Arin like this was just… it made him happy.

Even though Arin was a mess, he looked so much like himself, and it lit up inside of Dan like he had swallowed a firefly. 

“You okay there?” Arin gave Dan a concerned look, and took another slug of tea. “You look kinda spacey.”

“Yeah, I’m good,” said Dan. “I’m just tired.”

“You’re not getting the plague, are you?”

“I sure hope not!” 

* * *

They Grumped.

After three episodes, Arin got another cup of tea.

He had another cup, three episodes after that.

By the time it was lunch time, Arin had drunk something like four cups of tea, and it was beginning to lose its potency. 

Dan was doing almost all of the talking, and every time Arin would start to laugh, he’d start coughing. 

“Dude,” Dan said, after a particularly vicious coughing fit, “I’m calling it. I think you need to go home.”

“Suzy doesn’t like me being alone when I’m sick,” Arin croaked. He was sweating through his shirt, and he was staring at his hands.

“Hey, Dan?”

“Yeah?”

“My hands won’t stop shaking.”

Arin didn’t sound worried, but he did sound perplexed.

He held his hands out in front of him, and they did indeed have a very noticeable tremor, as if he was trying to hold on to vibrator or something else that was small and quick moving. 

Dan took Arin’s hands in his own, squeezing then.

He didn’t realize how… intimate the gesture was, until his own fingers were folded across Arin’s, and by that point, Arin was clinging himself. 

“And… like, my heart is racing really hard,” Arin added, as an afterthought. 

“Is anything else wrong?” Dan’s own heart was beating very fast. 

Shit.

Were they gonna have to rush Arin to a clinic or something like that?

“No,” said Arin. “I’m just very… huh.” He was still shaking. 

Dan put a hand on Arin’s forehead and found him feverish, but not to this extent.

“Are you chilled?”

“Nah, like I said, I feel pretty fine, apart from the shaking.”

“This is… worrying,” said Dan. “Let’s go outside and maybe talk to other people who have access to computers and can look things up?”

“Good plan,” said Arin. “I need to pee anyway.”

“How much tea have you drunk?”

“Um.”

* * * 

Suzy was the one who figured it out, after Arin had staggered back from the bathroom, and Arin was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and shaking. 

“So he’s just been drinking tea all day?”

“Well, yeah,” said Dan, “but tea doesn’t make you this twitchy.”

“Do you still have the box?”

“Yeah, hold on a sec.”

Dan handed her the box, noting absently that she was wearing his leather jacket.

He’d have to get it back at some point, but it really did suit her.

He liked seeing Suzy in the few items of his clothing that would actually fit her. 

He’d seen Arin in his shirts a few time, and now the thought of that made his mind go to… interesting places.

… this was neither the time, nor the place for that bullshit, especially when Suzy was looking as concerned as she was.

“Arin,” she said, “you’re only supposed to drink about four cups a _day_!”

“What?!” He blinked at her, bleary eyed.

“You’re not supposed to drink so much of this,” Suzy said, slowly and carefully. “Did you not read the three billion warnings on this?” 

“What warnings?” Dan was crowding a little close to Suzy, to read over her shoulder.

He could see Barry giving him a bit of a knowing look, but he rolled his eyes.

Barry chuckled, and went back to his editing.

Dan had his chin on Suzy’s shoulder, and he was reading.

“Jesus christ, how are they selling this shit?” He sounded incredulous.

“You’re both making me _very_ nervous,” Arin complained. “Can you just fucking tell me already?”

“You’re not supposed to drink this if you’ve got any kind of liver damage,” Suzy said, “or if you’re pregnant, or if you’re on blood pressure medication.”

“I’m not on any of those,” Arin pointed out.

“Well, okay, no, but anything that has that many warnings usually means business,” said Dan. 

Guilt was swallowing him up.

He’d been the one who had suggested this tea, and now Arin was even worse. 

“Arin, you’re going home,” said Suzy, in a tone that brooked no argument. 

“What about the rest of the Grumping?”

“We can catch up when you’re feeling better,” Dan said, trying to keep his tone as firm as Suzy’s. “Your voice is shot, to go along with how hard you’re shaking.” 

“I could have some cough medicine?”

“That’ll just knock you the fuck out.” 

“But -”

“I’ll stay with you,” Dan burst out.

He turned red, when Suzy and Arin both looked at him.

“I mean…,” Dan said quickly, his ears turning red, “that is, if you, uh… if you don’t mind.”

“It’d make me feel better,” said Suzy, and she kissed him on the cheek.

Dan blushed harder.

They weren’t usually ones for the whole public displays of affection at work, but everyone knew. 

Arin wasn’t exactly subtle about talking about the shit that made him happy, and Suzy being happy made him happy, so he talked about it. 

“If that’s okay with you, big cat?” The affectionate nickname just tumbled out of his mouth, without prompting.

He had it bad.

He had it really bad, and he was going to have to tell Arin soon, because this was going to start getting ridiculous. 

“Yeah, it’s okay.” Arin sighed, which started a coughing fit, and Dan hurriedly poured him a glass of water.

Arin drank his water, and he sighed again, his eyes closing. 

“Hey,” Suzy said, raising her voice. “No sleeping! You’re gonna go home, and you’re gonna have some cough syrup, and _then_ you can have a sleep.”

“Do you want me to just take him home, or…?”

“Would you mind staying with him until I got home?” Suzy shot Dan a guilty look. “I know you’re busy -”

“Not super busy,” Dan told her quickly. “I had my schedule cleared for Grumping, so if we’re not Grumping, I’d just be filling it with something else.”

“If you’re absolutely sure,” Suzy said, and she kissed him on the mouth. 

“I am,” he reassured her, and he kissed her back, then went to help Arin stand up and walk to the car.

* * * 

Arin was wobbling.

Not too much, but just enough that Dan had to keep an arm around Arin’s middle.

“I can’t believe I gave you the one goddamn tea that would fuck you up,” Dan said, half talking to himself.

“In fairness, I think that just about any tea would have fucked me up, in the quantity that I was drinking it.” Arin’s voice was growing raspier, without the lubrication of heat, lemon juice, and honey.

“Well,” said Dan, “let’s get you some cough syrup.”

“Thanks for staying with me,” Arin said, climbing into the car, leaning back into it and closing his eyes. 

“Of course,” Dan said. “It’s my duty as your… as your best friend.”

“You’re more than my best friend, you know,” Arin said, his voice sleepy, but full of sincerity.

Dan’s chest was held in a grip.

“R-right,” said Dan. “I’m… I’m your… your metamour.”

“Yeah,” said Arin. “My metamour.” He sighed heavily, as they began to drive. “Fuck, I’m bad at being sick.”

“I’d worry about anyone who was good at being sick,” said Dan. “Want me to pick anything up on the way home?”

“Nah,” said Arin. “Let’s just go home.”

“If you’re sure,” said Dan, but he pointed his car in the right direction, and he drove.

* * * 

Arin insisted that they pull the sofa bed out, so that he could lie in the living room.

“Any particular reason you want to lie on the sofa bed, which is kinda lumpy, versus your own bed, which I know is soft and lovely?” Dan sprawled out next to Arin on the mattress, his feet up.

He was comfortable in spite of himself. 

“... I’m about to, like, be really awkward,” Arin said, and he rolled onto his stomach, covering his face with both hands.

His voice was so rough, he sounded like he’d been smoking three packs a day for god only knew how long.

“How awkward are we talking?”

Arin had changed into his pajamas, and the fabric of his t-shirt looked so comfortable that Dan wanted to bury his face in it, nuzzling into Arin’s chest. 

… or maybe that was just Arin’s chest, come to think about it.

“Like… possibly friendship ending awkward,” said Arin, and he heaved a heavy sigh. “But fuck it. I can, like, blame it on the cough syrup, right?”

“You haven’t taken any cough syrup yet,” Dan told him, his heart beating way too fast. 

“Oh. Well.” Arin cleared his throat, which brought on a coughing fit, and then he had to sit up, and Dan was helping him, hitting his back to help loosen up the gunk that he heard rumbling around in Arin’s chest.

Dan offered Arin a tissue, and Arin spat something into the tissue and tossed it into the wastepaper basket. 

“I… when I get better, I was thinking of… of asking you out,” he said. “But I don’t want… I don’t want you to, like, associate sleeping in the main bed with me, or doing anything else in the bed with me, with just, like, me being sick. And me and Suzy have a rule that our bed is just for, like, romantic pursuits, not just… chilling out with someone.”

“... oh,” said Dan, his heart beating very fast.

“Please say something else,” said Arin, and he sounded like he was pleading. “Please, don’t just… don’t….” 

Arin started to cough again, harder this time, and there were tears dripping down his face.

Dan slapped him on the back, hard, and Arin coughed up something into another tissue, tears still dripping down his face.

“I don’t want to… I don’t want to lose you as my friend, or even as my… as my metamour,” Arin said, and he was… oh shit, he was actually _crying_ , oh shit. “Like… Suzy is happier than I’ve ever seen her, with you, and I like it, I like her being so happy, and I like that it’s _you_ making her happy, because you make me so happy, you’re just a… a happy making person, and....”

Dan hugged Arin.

He wasn’t sure what else to do, because Arin was starting to wheeze, clearly having trouble breathing, and because Dan needed to hold him, in that moment in time.

“It’s okay,” Dan said into the side of Arin’s neck, and he squeezed him, beginning to rock, ever so slightly. “It’s okay. I promise.”

“I’m sorry for making it awkward,” said Arin, and he sniffed into the collar of Dan’s shirt, then pulled back, chuckling wetly, wiping his wet face on the back of his hand, despite the tissue that Dan was offering him. 

“It’s fine,” Dan said quickly.

“It’s okay if it’s not,” Arin said quickly. “I’ll get over this… eventually. I mean, obviously, crushes are there to be gotten over, so what else am I gonna do?”

“No, no, that’s… that’s not what I mean,” Dan said, and now he was talking very slowly, very carefully. He had to get this right. 

He had to not fuck up.

“I think I’m a bit too, like… sick, because I’m really not understanding what you’re saying,” Arin said, blinking owlishly at Dan. 

“... I might have kind of a crush on you,” said Dan. 

“What?”

“A crush. On you. I might… I mean, I do. I’ve been… I’ve got some kind of feelings for you, and I’m pretty sure that it’s a crush, but I’ve been trying to figure out the right way to tell you, because… well, I mean, I don’t want to make it awkward.”

Dan laughed hollowly.

“I hope you don’t judge me too much.”

Arin looked bewildered.

“For what?!” 

“I dunno. For not like, admitting it to you without you telling me first, for developing it in the first place, since you said you wanted to get over your crush and now I need to get over mine, since you seem so into us being metamours.”

 

“I mean, I am, but… as long as you’re with Suzy, we’re still metamours,” Arin said, seemingly clinging to one bit of the flood of speech that was pouring out of Dan. 

“Well, yeah, but -”

“You don’t have to get over your crush on me, if you don’t want to,” Arin said, as the gears in his head, gummed up as they were, finally started turning. “I mean, if I’ve got a crush on you, and you’ve got a crush on me, why not try it?”

“What about Suzy?”

“She… knows that I’ve got a thing for you,” Arin admitted, and he flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

The position got him coughing again, and Dan rolled him onto his side, slapping his back.

Arin took deep, heaving breaths, and he sighed, all the way down to his hair, and then he shivered. 

“... she does?” Dan sat back and actually thought about a few of his interactions with Suzy, the past few days.

… that would explain a few things, actually. 

Huh. 

“I’d still feel more comfortable talking to her first,” he told Arin.

“That’s fine,” said Arin, yawning widely. “But, like… if Suzy is okay with it, could we… try it?”

“I dunno what “it” entails,” Dan said, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

Because… well, he’d never been any flavor of intimate with a dude. He was already more intimate with Arin than he’d been with anyone who wasn’t a family member or a romantic partner. 

But there were… well, other bits, and for all of his Danny Sexbang posturing, Dan knew he was kind of… timid, when it came to sexual stuff, at least, new sexual stuff. 

What if he disappointed Arin, or upset him?

What if Suzy felt neglected, from the two of them paying so much attention to each other?

“Dude,” said Arin, and he wrapped a cautious hand around Dan’s wrist, squeezing it gently, “you’re overthinking shit.”

“Hm?” 

“I can tell that you’re overthinking. You need to calm down.” Arin laughed, a rough, husky thing. “How about… how about I take some cough syrup, and we can watch something fuckin’ stupid, and when Suze gets back we can have a full on round robin feelings jam… whatever it is, and then we’ll be good. Okay?”

“Okay,” said Dan.

“Now, bring in the cough syrup.”

Arin made an imperious gesture.

Dan burst out laughing, and made his way to the medicine cabinet, then back to the kitchen to find a spoon.

* * * 

They slept on the couch together, Arin snoring like someone trying to saw through a knot in a log, Dan drifting out - fiddling on his phone, paying vague attention to whatever stupid talk show was playing.

Their legs were tangled together, and when Arin rolled onto one side, he didn’t spoon Dan, but he did hold on to Dan’s shirt like it was a beloved childhood blanket.

Arin’s hair looked stringy with sweat, and he had a pillow crease on one side of his face.

The cats came and went - at one point, Dan had Mimi in his lap and Mochi curled up against his side, purring quietly. 

It was about as close to contentment as Dan could get in one moment.

He needed Suzy, and maybe for Arin to not be sick, for this to be perfect.

Still, considering the fact that nothing in life is perfect, this was pretty damn close. 

* * *

They were both woken up by Suzy. 

Dan guiltily started to draw his legs back, then gave a mental shrug and kept them in place.

If Suzy was bothered, what was he going to do? 

He’d stop.

But… if she knew, if she was okay with it, then… then he’d see.

“Hey boys,” said Suzy, and she flopped onto the sofa bed next to them.

She was barely wearing any makeup, her long hair loose around her shoulders.

She leaned over to kiss Dan on the mouth, then put a hand on Dan’s chest for leverage and kissed Arinon the mouth.

“So did you guys talk about your mutual crush thing?” Her tone of voice was overly casual, and her fingers were hooked into Dan’s belt loops.

Arin snickered, which turned into another coughing fit. 

When he could talk again, he reached over Dan, prodding her in the side with one finger.

“You’ve never been good at subtle, have you, babe?”

“I don’t see the point of being subtle when it’s obvious that you guys have been, like, super cuddly,” said Suzy.

“It could be platonic bromantic cuddling,” Arin said defensively.

“Please don’t ever say that again,” Dan groaned, pulling Arin closer to him cautiously. 

Arin let himself be pulled, his head on Dan’s chest. 

He was sweaty enough to soak through Dan’s shirt, but Dan wasn’t bothered, at that moment in time.

“What, platonic?”

“No. Bromantic.”

“So these aren’t platonic bromantic cuddles?” 

“They’re not.”

“Are they… romantic bromantic cuddles?”

Dan groaned like he was in pain, as Suzy started to cackle. 

“You guys are perfect for each other,” she told Dan.

Dan looked over at Arin, who was grinning back at him, clearly nervous. 

“This is gonna be super gross,” Arin said, “but would it be okay if I kissed you?”

“I’m not, like, grossed out by dudes kissing dudes,” said Dan. “Or by… you kissing me. In theory.” 

“That’s not why it’d be gross, dumbass,” said Arin. For once the “dumbass” wasn’t just implied, but actualy said. “It’s because I’m sick.”

“I mean, considering how much time I’ve been spending breathing your air, I’m probably gonna get it anyway,” Dan said, his tone gloomy. 

He already had the beginnings of the ticklish throat.

Hopefully Suzy and Arin would bring him soup and tea when he was sick.

… who was he kidding, they’d camp out in his living room and not let him get up for anything but the bathroom. 

Maybe that was what spurred him on, to lean forward, to press his lips against Arin’s.

Arin made a surprised noise, and then he kissed Dan back.

Dan could taste the medicinal, chemical taste of the cough syrup on the tip of his tongue, and the salt of Arin’s cold. 

He pulled back, smiling nervously at Arin, and Arin was grinning at him, goofy.

“Can we kiss, like, properly, when I’m a lot less gross?”

“I’m for that plan,” Suzy said, from her spot behind Dan. 

Dan snickered, and he rolled onto his other side, kissing her. 

She kissed him back, and now she could taste a bit of Arin on her mouth - could she taste him on Arin’s lips now?

That was a heady thought. 

But for now… there were more pressing needs.

“I don’t feel like cooking today,” said Suzy, scratching Mochi between the ears as he crawled onto her lap. “So… how about takeout?”

“Sounds good,” said Arin. “What kind?”

“I vote sushi,” said Dan. 

“You always do,” said Arin. 

Dan snorted, stretching out between the two of them. 

His partners. 

His metamours.

“You guys are metamours now,” he told Suzy and Arin. 

“What?”

“Well, I mean, if you’re both dating me, then _technically_ you’re both each other’s metamours.”

“... that’s confusing,” said Arin, after a minute.

Dan grinned.

“Yep!”

**Author's Note:**

> Always read the instructions, kids. 
> 
> Like this fic? Check out my tumblr, theseusinthemaze.tumblr.com! I post other stuff, & I take requests!


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